Wesley ceouch



Patented June 13, 1882.

W. CROUCH.

AIRBUPFER FOR CARS.

z \M u v 7 i 1 a Q (No Model.

UNITED STATES WESLEY CROUCH, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

AIR-BUFFER FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 259,634, dated June 13,1882.

Application filed April 21, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WESLEY (motion, of Rochester, in the county ofMonroe and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements inCombined Buffers and Draw-Bars for Cars, of which the followingis aspecification.

My invention relates to a combined buffer and draw-bar for railway-cars,in which air is employed as a cushion to relieve the shock or concussionproduced in stopping and starting a train or car.

The invention consists in the employment of a piston moving in a closedcylinder, which cylinder is furnished with ports by which the air ispermitted to escape after compression from one to the other side of thepiston, and the benefitof the air-cushion is thereby secured both inpushing and in drawing, and in forming a channel or passage in thepiston or cylinder, by which a gradual passage from one to the otherside of the piston is permitted, so that the piston may he graduallymoved to its normal position by a spring provided for the purpose.

The invention further consistsin certaindetailsofconstruction,hereinafterfullyexplained.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of myimproved draw-bar and buffer, partly in section; Fig. 2, averticalcross-section on the linewmof Fig. 1.

The purpose of my invention is to overcome the shock commonly producedin bringing cars together or in starting a train, which is accomplishedby means of an air-cushion in a manner presently described.

Confined bodies of air and other compressible fluids have heretoforebeen employed to take up the shock produced by the meeting of cars; butso far as I am aware no one has ever before proposed to so construct abuffer and draw-bar that the elasticity of the air should be utilizedboth in pushing and in pulling; nor, in fact, amI aware that theair-cushion has ever been employed in connection with a draw-bar or torelieve the shock in starting a train. This double effect or action Isecure by the construction shown, in which A represents the draw-headand buffer, made of essentially the usual form, and applied to or formedupon the outer end of a draw, 13, which bar is furnished at its otherend with a piston, E, arranged to move in a cylinder, H.

The cylinder H, togetherwith oneofits heads or ends and flanges, 0, bywhich the cylinder is bolted or secured to the timbers of the car, iscast complete in one piece, and the other head or end, G, through whichthe draw-bar or piston-rod passes, is cast separate therefrom and boltedto the cylinder by bolts 2', as shown in Fig. l.

'The cylinder is seated squarely against a cross-timber, D, at its rearend and bolted to the under side of the sills or longitudinal timbers ofthe car, as indicated, and is thereby made firm and secure.

Near each end of the cylinder there are formed passages m, the ports oropen ends of which open into the cylinder close to the heads thereof,and at a distance therefrom equal or a little more than equal to thethickness of the piston, as clearly shown in Fig.1, said passagepermitting the air compressed on one side of the piston to escape to theother side when the piston reaches a position between the two ports'oropenings of either passage, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

It will be seen that these ports only permit the passage of the air fromone to the other side of the piston as the movement of the piston ineither direction ceases, and therefore does not lessen the effect of theair cushion or body, and it will likewise be observed that thecompressed air cannot act to force the piston back to its first positionand prevent the utilization of the air-cushion to overcome the shock inpulling or drawing, because the air is permitted to pass back of thepiston through the passage or. I

It will also be observed that by the use of a closed cylinder I securethe elastic effect of-the air compressed on one side of the piston andthe benefit of the vacuum produced on the opposite side.

It is desirable that the piston should stand normally about the middlepart of the cylinder, and that the draw-head A should be advanced inproper position to not either asa buffer or for drawing, and for thispurpose I provide a spring, J, which acts to move the piston-rod ordraw-bar outward.

The arrangement of the spring is susceptible of considerable variation;but that shown in Fig. 1 is preferred. In said figure it will be seenthat the piston-rod or draw-bar is formed or furnished with a collar, 0,and encircled by a volute or spiral spring, J, one end of which bearsagainst the collar and the other end of which is seated in a metal cupor socket, K, applied to a cross-timber, D, as shown.

The spring is preferably of a length sufficient to move the piston tothe middle of the cylinder, as in that position it is ready to acteither way to take up the shock or concussion. This spring serves bothto prevent the piston from being forced against the cylinder-head whenmoving inward, its entire play or movement being taken up just beforethe piston reaches the cylinder-head, and the spring thereby forming asolid body between the shoulder O and plate K, and to gradually move thepiston and draw-head outward after being forced or driven inward by themeeting of the two cars.

In order that the gradual return or outward movement may take placewithout producing a compression of the air on one side or a partialvacuum on the other side of the piston, I form a groove or channel, 1?,in the inner face of the cylinder from end to end, as shown; or, as theequivalent thereof, I form a small hole or passage through the pistonfrom one face to the other. This channel, groove, or passage, inwhichever form it may be used, is sufiicientlysmall not to allow the airto pass with such rapidity as to perceptibly affect the action of thepiston in compressing the air to take up the shock or concussion, but ismerely of such size as to permit the air to gradually and slowly escapefrom one to the other side of the piston, and thereby enable the springto gradually return the piston and draw-head or butter to their normalor outward position. The passages m may, if preferred, be omitted, andthe channel]? made to serve their purpose.

The action or movement of the piston in taking up the shock orconcussion is instantaneous, or practically so, and the escape of anyconsiderable body of air through so small an opening is impossible.

To relieve the piston of any strain in drawing the car or train, a crosstimber or beam, D, is arranged at a distance from plate K correspondingto the movement of the piston and slightly less than the length of thecylinderan arrangement of parts which causes the collar O to come incontact with the rear face of said beam D, against which the collardraws, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

For the purpose of conveniently oiling the piston when necessary, Iprovide an oil-hole, n, which is closed by a screw-plug, I.

The hole is located at the top of the cylinder, midway between its ends,and delivers oil directly into a groove, L, extending about halfwayaround the piston, equally on both sides of the oil-hole, as in Fig. 1.

The piston, standing normally in the position shown, is always sure toreceive the oil directly in the groove, from which point it will beproperly and evenly distributed.

The device, as a whole, is exceedingly cheap, simple, and efficient, andnot liable to deteriorate in efficiency by long use, as is the case withsprings.

While not broadly claiming air as a cushion for railway-car buffers, Iam aware that a hydraulic buffer has been patented in which the liquidwas permitted to pass from one to the other side of the pistonthroughout the entire movement of the latter, and such construction I donot claim, although to permit the return of the piston to its normalposition I provide a small passage which permits such movement of theair to take place slowly and evenlyai'ter the butter has been moved fromits normal position. As above stated, however, this passage is so smallas to have no perceptible or appreciable effect upon the compression ofthe air by the piston, which compression is practically instantaneous. Iuse no liquid, for the reason that, being practically incompressible, asin the case of water and most other liquids used in such apparatus,little, if any, elasticity is afforded thereby; but I make use of air,which is highly compressible and elastic, and I so construct and arrangethe parts of the device that during the compression of the air, andwhile the bufier or draw-bar is acting to take up the shock, there is noappreciable escape of air from one to the other side of thecompressing-piston; but when such action is completed the air ispermitted freely to escape to the front of the piston, and thereby toprevent its sudden recoil. This transfer of the air from one to theother side of the piston is not begun until the batting action is over,and then it takes place instantaneously, or substantially so.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a pneumaticcar-buffer and draw-bar, the combination of an air-cylinder and a pistonfitting within the cylinder and connected with the buffer or draw-bar,said cylinder being provided with a passage opening at one end into thecylinder close to the cylinder-head and at the other end at a distancefrom the head slightly greater than the thickness of the piston, wherebythe air between the piston and the cylinder-head is subjected tocompression until the piston reaches a point between the two openings ofthe passage, and is then permitted suddenly to pass to the other side ofthe piston, substantially as and for the pur pose set forth.

2. In combination with a car-buffer, a piston connected therewith andarranged to move within an air-tight cylinder, substantially as shownand described, whereby the elasticity of the compressed air on one sideof the piston and the force or effect of the partial vacuum on theopposite side are both utilized to take up the concussion of the buffer.

3. In a pneumatic car-buffer and draw-bar, the combination of a cylinderfilled with air and a piston fitting closely within the cylinder andattached to the buffer or draw-bar, the cylinder or the piston beingprovided with a small passage through which the air can slowly pass fromone to the other side of the piston, but so small as to have noappreciable effect upon the compression of the air, whereby a suddenmovement of the piston is caused to compress the air, but a veryslow-and gradual movement is permitted without compressing the air.

4. In combination with a draw-bar or butter provided with a piston, acylinder containing said piston, a passage through which air may slowlypass from one side of the piston to the other, and a spring applied tothe draw-bar and arranged, substantially as described and shown, toreturn the piston to the middle of the cylinder after being forced fromsaid position.

5. The herein-described combined draw-bar and buffer, consisting ofdraw-head A, drawbar or piston'rod B, provided with collar 0 and pistonE, cylinder H, provided with ports m m and channel P, beam or support D,and spring J, all combined and operating substantially as shown anddescribed.

6. In combination with the cylinder having the oil-hole n and plug I,the piston E, provided with groove L, as and for the purpose explained.

7 Inacar-buffer, substantially such as shown and described, thecombination of an air-cylinder, a piston arranged to move within saidcylinder, and a collar applied to the piston-rod and arranged to comeinto contact with a stop outside of the cylinder, whereby the piston isprevented from coming into contact with the cylinderheads.

WESLEY CROUCH.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM W. DODGE, WM. H. BOWMAN.

